Mike Leigh - Bleak Moments (1971)

Mike Leigh's assured first feature, Bleak Moments, already demonstrates his skill with actors, and his unique ability to create complex characters whose behavior confounds audience expectations. In this film, as in most of his work, Leigh captures truths about human behavior. The action in Bleak Moments appears simple on its surface, but there's a richness to this work that withstands repeated viewings. Leigh is greatly aided by his cast, particularly by the restrained fierceness of Anne Raitt's performance as Sylvia.







Shrewdly observed and brilliantly understated, "Bleak Moments" is a rare early work from Academy Award nominated British filmmaker Mike Leigh ("Secrets and Lies", "Naked"). Brimming with the edgy realism and quirky wit Leigh has become known for, "Bleak Moments follows" Sylvia (Anne Raitt), a bored, emotionally numb secretary, as she desperately seeks release from the pressures of caring for her 29 year old mentally ill sister (Sarah Stephenson). Sylvia seeks distraction first in an awkward flirtation with a quiet schoolteacher (Eric Allan) and then with the tenant living in her garage, a disheveled, guitar - playing hippie (Mike Bradwell) who seems to offer escape from the bleak moments of her life. Like eavesdropping on the most intimate episodes in a strangers life, Bleak Moments is an authentic, poignant and often hilarious portrait of the denizens of Londons dreary row houses and the fleeting but significant moments which define our lives.









Momento sombríos
Sylvia trabaja en una oficina contable, con su amiga Pat y un jefe absurdo. A Sylvia le gusta leer, y bebe en las noches, sola en su cuarto, unas copas de licor frutado. Ella vive con su hermana Hilda, quien sufre retraso mental. Hilda odia a Peter, un profesor de escuela interesado en las hermanas, mientras quiere a Norman, un hippie que trabaja con un mimeógrafo en el garaje de Sylvia, imprimiendo un periódico underground. Sólo cuando Norman toca la guitarra, las cosas parecen fluir amablemente. Todo lo demás es padecimiento, inarticulación, desencuentro y oscuridad. Bleak Moments es el primer largometraje de Mike Leigh y su primera obra maestra: un tratado bellísimo y despiadado sobre la soledad y la incomunicación de los animales humanos.








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